“Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.'” Matthew 8:20 (NIV)
Americans spend, according to The Wall Street Journal, 1.2 Trillion Dollars on nonessentials every year. One-point-two-trillion…
Find more statistics here-
https://www.becomingminimalist.com/clutter-stats/
If that didn’t catch your attention…
When I was first watching the documentary “Minimalism,” I thought, “There is no way a woman could do this.
I saw these two men who had given up their six digit salaries and pristine possessions to owning the bare minimum of what they could. Why? Contentment. Even making a six-digit salary these two men were not happy. You can find out more about them here:
Joshua and Ryan have been somewhat of an inspiration for me. The more that I thought on their philosophies, the more I agreed with most of it. Not to the extreme that they are- but I see their point on a lot of things minimalist.
Is life, after all, about what we have, or about what we do?
To first decide if you want to pursue minimalism, you have to have a clear definition of what minimalism is. What do we really want verses what we do we really need?
Minimalism is simply ridding your life of excess possessions and focusing on what you use and what you need verses what you want or what does not serve a purpose.
Now, if you walk into my house, you will not see blank walls and empty rooms. On the contrary, my apartment is quite cute. But, you will notice something- I do not have excess stuff lying around everywhere. I use what I have for the most part. I do own a collection of cultural artifacts from around the world and history and books and candles. Do I feel bad for this? No. I take pride in my books; they are my babies! I love my artifacts, I take them to school and let the kids see them. I have burned over 15 candles at the same time… to my shame. LOL I like having my apartment decorated- it makes it homey.
I would say I live simply more than I am a “minimalist.”
The question is, how much value do I put in my stuff? Does STUFF define my life and do my possessions give me a false contentment or a false sense of who I really am?
Am I what I own or how I act?
There are a couple of reasons I decided to go green and be as minimalistic as I can while still being comfortable.
- Africa– Perhaps the biggest reason is Africa. After seeing all of the poverty in Kenya, my life completely changed. I saw things completely different and no longer needed the best of everything or the most of everything in order to “survive,” because I was not “surviving,” I was living (material wise.) Those people were truly surviving. When you see survivor mode in the eyes of a child- you don’t forget it. Storage units had never seemed excessive to me, until Kenya. I realized our nation (1 our of every 10 of us) needed more space for stuff we didn’t use… Why? The American Dream becomes owning a metal 6 foot by 6 foot room to store an extra TV and sofa while some live in a 6 foot by 6 foot room and sleep in the dirt. If we are storing stuff that actually matters that is one thing, but what are we storing?
2. Jesus Example– The most successful minimalist of all time was Jesus Himself. Jesus did not even have a home. He traveled and stayed with others as apart of His journey. We never hear about Jesus living for stuff, we hear about Him living for souls. Now, does this mean we all have to go sell all of our possessions and go door to door seeking shelter? No. But it does mean that our Lord Himself set an example of seeking the lost and not seeking possessions.
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust[a]destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Matthew 6:19-24 (ESV)
Jesus was quick to remind us that all that we see is temporary. We are eternal souls in a world that will not always be here. So when we look at it that way, owning so much stuff can seem like a waste.
3. Being a Good Steward– It’s true, I am a tree-hugger. I recycle. I am trying to go as biodegradable, zero waste and plastic free as possible. Let me tell you… in our consumer-culture it is hard! But I want to take care of the little that I have while I am here. I want to take care of the earth as long as we have it, because I want my kids to do the same. Honestly, it promotes good health, less debt, and frugality for you and your environment so why not?
4. I Love Adventures– My theory is if I am spending less on STUFF, I can spend more on LIFE! I love adventures- going to new places, enjoying new culture, trying new foods, dancing to new music. I would rather a man take me on a trip that buy me a BMW. It’s amazing how sometimes we consume so much, and yet gain no adventure at all…
5. Anxiety- So I will be the first to tell you that I am medicated for extreme anxiety disorder and mild depressive disorder. In translation- I can be a hot mess. One thing that helps me keep my anxiety in check is simply being clean. Having my house clean and organized takes my stress level down five notches. One way to ensure that I keep a clean house and that it stays organized is by not overloading it with stuff. If you find yourself having to take hours one end cleaning- consider what you could do to take some weight off your load by getting rid of stuff that you don’t use or that doesn’t serve a purpose. It’s the same with depression. I don’t want to use stuff as a crutch for my depression. Less stuff, less temptation.
So, there ya go- five reasons to be more of a minimalist and more eco-friendly. Even if this world is not going to be here forever, I want to make my time count with adventure and what I do, not necessarily what I own.
You are loved.
You are valuable.
You are useful.